"Friendship is a developmental curve and it evolves significantly throughout childhood. Children will be in sync, out of sync and back in sync (or perhaps not) with each other and this will repeat."

"...listen with an open and empathic ear, provide nurture and support, and get her engaged in activities beyond her typical school peer group this summer so she has experiences of entering new groups and developing new connections..."

"You have an understandable desire to have some time for yourself - but it is possible to breastfeed and have time to meet your friends if you want to explore this option."

"There might be a pattern to this behaviour. For example, a time of day; something that happens before he starts doing it; or a particular behaviour associated with it, such as tiredness, distress or feeling unwell."

Is she setting a bad example for her siblings?

"Swear words can, initially, sound funny coming from a toddler’s mouth. But when we laugh we teach our children that this is entertaining and something we enjoy"

'Your daughter has started primary school and with that transition, her world has opened up and become bigger than home'

It can be difficult to explain abstract concepts like “it was an accident or unintentional” to a young child but using play to communicate this might be more effective.

He’s usually well-behaved, always saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. What can I do to ensure this does not happen again?

"Self-motivation comes easier to some people than it does to others so rather than criticising her lack of self-motivation, look for ways to help her activate that drive within herself."